Press Start to Continue
by Fyr3Flyt3
Summary: The Straw Hat Pirates are devasted on Wano and left with nowhere to run and no one to save them. All is lost until the Straw Hats catch yet another lucky break and are sent back in time to two years before Luffy set sail. But the Straw Hats aren't ones to redo adventures the same way. With new knowledge and strength, they decide to shake things up for better or worse.
1. There and Back Again

**Fyr3Fly3: So recently, a well-known fanfic, New Game Plus, was put on indefinite hiatus by its writer, DuncanIdaho2014. New Game Plus was easily one of my favorite One Piece fanfictions ever. It's one of the fanfictions that got me into the writing them. At one point, I even wrote notes for my own fanfic based on the idea of his. This isn't that exact fanfic per say, as that one is filled with a lot of self-indulgent stuff since it was my own personal thing. This is a more refined version of that (refined being a relative term), inspired by his work and others, but with my own ideas and spin on things. I often have trouble keeping up with writing my fanfic as I'm sure maybe a few people might know. But this one is really kinda special to me. So, without further ado, here is the beginning.**

* * *

 **Chapter 0: Huey Lewis and The News**

* * *

There's a thing called Murphy's Law. It states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and in the current case of the Straw Hat Pirates, things had gone very very _very_ wrong.

After Whole Cake Island, the crew was finally able to reunite after nearly two months in Wano Country alongside the samurai and Law. From there, they were supposed to enact their plans to take out the Yonko, 'Thousand Beasts' Kaidou, and his crew, the Beast Pirates. They knew it wouldn't be easy, especially after the fiasco at Whole Cake Island, but they couldn't have imagined it would end up like this.

By this, it is meant that they didn't expect the Marines, led by all three Admirals and Fleet Commander Akainu, to invade Wano while they were in the middle of their plan. They didn't expect to be caught between the two forces and have their allies slaughtered. They didn;t expect the Grand Fleet to try and come save them only to be sunk into the depths of the sea. They didn't expect to find the Thousand Sunny covered in lava and sinking into the ocean when they tried to retreat. They didn't expect Akainu to melt down Law to nothing but bloody sludge in front of them. They didn't expect to be beaten back with no way out.

How could they expect that? For the Straw Hats, there had always been a way out. Some lucky break that would come and save them before time was up. Luck always seemed to be on their side. But not today. Today was the day that the Straw Hat Pirates were wiped from the face of the earth.

" **Midori Boshi: De** -AHHH!" Bullets, air slashes, and an assortment of Devil Fruit-based attacks came flying at Usopp as he peeked around the corner of the cave to fire at the horde of Marines slowly enclosing on their position. It was only thanks to Luffy stretching and pulling him back that he wasn't the first Straw Hat to die.

Never before had the Straw Hats looked so battered and disheartened. Chopper stood in the corner of the cave, sniffling and clutching Law's sword to his chest while Robin tried to calm him, barely hiding her own tears. Franky sat against the cave wall, the skin on his body torn away to show his metal facade beneath and both of his arms ripped off. Brook leaned against the wall, for once looking like the dead man he was, his crown gone and several of his bones cracked. Sanji stood over Nami, whispering softly to her while wrapping bandages around the massive burn on her arm. Blood dripped from behind his bangs where his right eye used to be. She didn't listen to him, simply stroking the golden band around her wrist. Zoro held what remained of his three blades close to his chest, Wado Ichimonji left only as a hilt and Shunsui melted beyond recognition. Jinbei was barely breathing, covered head to toe in burns, stab wounds, gunshot wounds, and any other kind of wound imaginable.

Luffy's arms snapped back, dropping Ussop on the ground. The long-nosed sniper looked up at his captain and saw something he'd never seen from him before: defeat.

Straw Hat Luffy, the Man Who Would Become Pirate King, felt defeated for the second time in his life. For nearly two years, he trained non-stop with Rayleigh to make sure this never happened, and yet, here he was again. Outnumbered. Outmatched. Out of time. He was going to lose his friends. All the faith they had put into him and his dream, constantly risking their lives and even their own dreams for his sake, and he was failing them.

"This can't be it!" Chopper sobbed, speaking out the words all the Straw Hats felt in their hearts. This couldn't be the end of their adventures, not after everything they went had to be a way out of this!

" **DAI FUNKA: KOTEN!** " Akainu's voice boomed alongside the sound of his eruption. The light from outside became bright red and heat began to fill the cave. Chopper could smell the sulfur and smoke of Akainu's attack coming from them. The Straw Hats hearts dropped. They had no way out of this. The grand adventure of the Straw Hat Pirates would come to a close as they were wiped from the earth.

"Aw, now why the long faces, guys? I expected more from you lot. You've gotten out of worse spots than this." All the Straw Hats, those still capable of moving, snapped towards the source of the voice, ready to attack. Sitting on a broken stalagmite near the back of the cave as a man or maybe a woman or perhaps a dog or even a talking teapot. It was impossible to tell. Their eyes couldn't focus on the figure for more than a second before it changed again. Despite the constantly shifting form, they could tell it was smiling at them. "Now there's the fight I was looking for. Much much better, though I doubt it'll do much against the lava."

"Who the hell are you and how did you get in here you bastard?!" Sanji yelled, bringing the flames of his Diable Jambe to life. The Enigma chuckled at the action, amused at the obvious threat. Zoro tightened his grip on his sword, throwing an eye over to Chopper and Law's cursed blade. If he could reach it-

"Oh, that won't be necessary, Zoro, trust me. Besides, it wouldn't even work if you tried." Zoro tensed. "And yes, I did just read your mind, which I find very amusing. You were always the hardest to read. The stern, responsible one, at least when it mattered. Though, Jinbei fills that role much better than you did. Got all that old Sun Pirates knowledge rattling around in the waterlogged brain o' his. Too bad he's in no condition to talk right now, I would've-"

"SHUT UP!" A Hawk Pistol flew towards the Enigma, currently in the form of a kangaroo wearing boxing gloves and trunks. It made no move to block the attack. It didn't need to. Before the attack even got within a foot of it, the Hawk Pistol stopped and snapped back to Luffy, knocking him back onto the floor. Shock rang through all the Straw Hats as they saw their captain so easily defeated without even a move.

"Now now, Luffy," the Enigma wiggled its finger condescendingly, " I know being impulsive is in your character or whatever, but there's no need to be rude. I'm only here to-"

"Shut up, ya bastard! I don't know who you are or how you got behind us, but I ain't gonna let you-"

"I'm not here to kill your friends. I'm here to save them, you elastic simian. Why do you think I froze time?"

"Froze…" Nami, struggling to sit up, happing to glance the cave entrance. Her head snapped back immediately to confirm what she thought she saw. She could see Akainu's attack, a wave of lava descending from the sky like a tsunami of magma, but that wasn't the part that shocked her. It was the fact that the lava was frozen in place. Even as it hung over in a rolling curl, it did not move. It didn't even make a sound and all the heat had stopped coming in. Just through the pockets of air and gaps in the wave, she could see the Marines all lined up with Akainu at the lead, frozen in a righteous scream. The other Straw Hats, those that could still move, looked lout as well, eyes wide with awe. They had seen plenty of strange things on their journey, but this took the cake and ate it too.

"Yeah. That was me. You're welcome."

"Are..are you a god?" Usopp asked. His hands shook around his Black Kabuto and the Pop Greens scattered across the floor. He was feeling his 'I-Don't-Wanna-Meet-A-Scary-God' disease starting to flare up The old woman gave a hearty laugh at that. It seemed very amused by the Straw Hats.

"Oh, that's very ironic coming from you, Usopp, but yes and no. I won't explain fully as I am not allowed to, but just understand that I am a very powerful 'person' who has an offer for all of you." The man in the technicolor coat smiled to himself, "I can save all of your lives right now with a clap of my hands."

"How?" Luffy growled, calming down a bit. He still held onto his suspicions about this guy, whatever he was. Something about him made his skin crawl and his instincts scream at him to run as far away as possible, which wasn't the usual response. Between that and stopping time, Luffy was pretty on edge about this mysterious figure, especially the way he smiled at him.

"Simple, my dear Luffy. I will send you back in time."

Robin called him out, "That's impossible." The flat screen TV raised an eyebrow at the Oharan archaeologist.

"Oh, my dear sweet Robin, are you really questioning me after all this?" The stool gestured to the frozen lava tsunami. "Stopping time should also be impossible, but here I am, stopping time with ease. Thusly, I feel time traveling is well within my capabilities." Robin pursed her lips, thoughts racing through her head.

"How do we know this isn't some kind of trick? Even if you aren't a Marine, well, you said you weren't a god and you don't look like an angel," Sanji grimaced at the garden gnome, "so that leaves one other option." He took this opportunity to finish Nami's bandage and light up a smoke.

The disembodied glove scoffed, "Oh, so you think I'm the Devil. Sorry, but you're a bit too far off there, Sanji, though not too far. But no, I'm not Satan and this isn't a trick. I really do want to help you guys out. Sending you back in time is all I have to offer."

"How far back?" Zoro asked. The question mark took a minute to think about this, mumbling to itself before answering.

"4 and a half years. Just about two years before Luffy set sail and you lot ended up on your path here. Not far back enough to stop any major tragedies in your lives like the death of Kuina or Bellemare and certainly not Brook's crew, but far enough back that you can give this another try."

The Straw Hats looked to one another, silent messages traveling between them. Their questions and conversations blazed by until all eyes turned to Luffy. He looked to each one of them. Doing this would set them back beyond step one. Everything they'd have done to this point would disappear. The friends they made, the adventures they had, all of it would be rewound, but, at least this way they could do it again. They could still reach their dreams. After a few tense seconds, Luffy gave a stiff nod, "Alright. Send us back."

"Wunderbar! I'm glad you made the right choice. I mean, I would've forced you to go anyway, but that's beside the point." With a clap of his hands, white light began to surround the Straw Hats, consuming them. The Enigma smiled as their bodies began to break down and dissolve into the light. Soon, all the Straw Hats were gone save the titular captain. Luffy looked around frantically, turning a glare of unimaginable rage at the Enigma. "Ah! No punching necessary, I'm sending you last cause I have something to say."

The Enigma stepped off his perch, now transformed into a beautiful woman with dark hair, small dark eyes, and a wide smile. She stood in front of Luffy, now only a torso, and held up two fingers. "Two things, Luffy, that's all I have to say. One, when you go back through your adventures, things may be a bit…..different than before. You may find some things that weren't there before?" Luffy's eyebrows twisted in confusion, but the Enigma carried on, "and two, well…..nevermind. I'm sure you'll figure out two on your own when you see him. Anyway, take care and try not to get into this situation again. I can only do this once a millennium. Toodles!"

The Enigma waved goodbye and Monkey D. Luffy disappeared into a flash of light, flying through space and time to be mentally sent back four years. Or at least, that's what the Enigma had told him and his friends. What the Enigma had withheld was that it wasn't time travel per say. Even for beings such as it, time travel was impossible. Time cannot be undone. What can be done is sending someone to a timeline that is almost exactly the same and on a further back timescale than the current one. They weren't sent back to a past version of their world.

"They were sent to an alternate version of their world." The Enigma said to no one in particular, "But if I had told them that, they never would have left. If they knew that this time would continue on without them, they never would have agreed."

By sending the Straw Hats away, the Enigma had essentially killed them in this world and reincarnated them in another with the same minds and souls. In this world, the Straw Hat Pirates disappeared on Wano Country, or died as the Marines like to report. In this world, their friends and families waited for the Straw Hats to return as they had a few months ago after two years, but as decades began to pass, their friends and family began to give up hope and began to believe the Straw Hats were dead.

"Perhaps it was a bit selfish of me not to tell them, but I of all people should be allowed to be selfish sometimes." The Enigma snapped its fingers, summoning the weapon that marked its true identity. The Enigma, whose name was Death, grabbed onto its Scythe and ripped a hole through space to re-enter its dimension. "I should be allowed something to enjoy." Death stepped through the rip and sealed it. Time started again and lava flooded the cave, filling it to the brim.

And thus ended the Straw Hat Pirates and thus began the Straw Hat Armada.

* * *

 **Fyr3Flyt3: The plan for this fanfic is to work on it in my free time and on the weekend, meaning that it'll most likely come out on weekends. This chapter was a bit wonky as I'm usually pretty bad at beginnings, but after this, I should hit my stride. I hope you enjoy this, and if you have any comments or critiques, leave a review. I am also looking for a beta to look over chapters for mistakes and help me with planning things out. Until Next Time, Bye!**


	2. It's Dawned On Me

**Chapter 1: It's Dawned On Me**

* * *

If Luffy had to describe time travel with one word, it would be trippy. If he had to describe it in two words, they would excruciating pain. It was like being pulled by the pinky toes through the eye of a needle while being choked, burned, stabbed, eaten, lightly salted, and blown up all at the same time. All in all, it was a pretty fun experience.

"Ugh, my head~" Much like any fun experience, it left Luffy with a terrible hangover, his head pounding from the inside. How did Zoro deal with this? Oh yeah, by drinking more. Sadly, it didn't seem Luffy's new surroundings had any alcohol readily available. Most children's treehouses were rather lacking in that department.

"Huh? Am I….whoa~" Luffy couldn't believe his eyes as he looked around the interior of the treehouse he, Ace, and Sabo had built back on Mt. Corvo. If he was in it, then that meant he was back at Mt. Corvo, and if he was back at Mt. Corvo, then he had actually time traveled. That weird transforming guy had actually sent him back in time.

"Aw cool! It's just like that book Robin told me about!" Luffy hopped up and stuck his head out the door, breathing in the fresh jungle air. The sun poked over the trees of the mountain, making the mist in the air shine. The familiar cries of the birds, tigers, monkeys, and other beasts filled the air. It was just like he remembered it. "Wow. I kinda missed this place. Oi, wait, if I'm back on Mt. Corvo, then…..DAAAAAADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNN!"

Leaping from the treehouse, Luffy raced through the jungle towards the bandit house. It took him much longer than he expected, going much slower than usual in his younger, weaker body. He'd have to fix that later, but for now, he had an old grumpy bandit to see.

Breaking through the underbrush, Luffy stopped and stared at the bandit encampment. Memories of his days here with Ace and Sabo flowed through his mind. ' _This time...we'll all come back and see it.'_

He took deep breath and screamed, "DAAAAAAAAADAAAAAAN!" The reaction mere seconds as the door to the house flew open. Dadan stormed out, cigarette hanging on her lip as she grimaced at Luffy.

"Shut up, you brat! Don't go around yelling people's names so early in the morning!" Luffy laughed, walking up to the doorway.

Dadan blinked at him confusedly before he wrapped her in a tight hug, coiling his arms around her multiple times. "Hey! What the hell are you doing? Stop hugging me, you brat!"

He responded by hugging her even tighter, smiling from ear to ear as he did. He had missed Dadan. She wasn't the nicest person to be raised by, always pretending that she didn't care about him or Ace, but Luffy knew that she was just a big softie inside. That was why she only complained about the hug and did nothing to actually stop it.

"Eh, what's goin' on here? What's Luffy yellin' about?" Dogra grumbled as he walked into the scene, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, He stopped when he saw Luffy hugging Dadan. "...What the hell?"

"Dogra!" Like some sort of cuddly octopus, Luffy grabbed Dogra and pulled him into the hug as well. The tiny man struggled to no avail and soon submitted to the hug. This cycle of capture and cuddling continued as the Dadan Family slowly awoke. Within thirty minutes, all the members had been assimilated into Luffy's hug. "I missed you guys so much even if you are mountain bandits!"

Dadan smacked Luffy upside the head, screaming, "Luffy, let us go right now!"

The hit didn't really do anything to Luffy, but he let all of the bandits go, most of them walking away with a strange glow around them similar to that of a parent who is greeted with hugs from their adorable child. Dadan felt the glow too, but she had a persona to maintain, choosing to grumble out on the deck while Magra and Dogra talked to Luffy.

"Now, now, Luffy, what do you mean 'you missed us?' Did you go somewhere last night?" Magra asked.

Dogra added in, "Yeah, what's with all this huggin' and yellin' and stuff. Did somethin' happen to ya or somethin'?"

"Hmmm…" Now that Luffy thought about it-he had been trying to do that more often since they entered the New World-he probably shouldn't tell people he's from the future. It didn't really matter if they knew, but then they'd ask about future stuff and Luffy didn't want to tell them what happened to Ace. ' _Nothing's gonna happen this time.'_

"Nothing happened. I didn't say that I missed you," Luffy lied. Magra and Dogra obviously-to most people-didn't believe him, but they didn't say anything. When it came to Luffy being weird, there was no point in asking questions. It was either something stupid or dangerous.

Satisfied that his lie had completely tricked the two, Luffy hopped off the front deck and ran back to the jungle, "See you later!" He waved them goodbye and disappeared into the brush. He was hungry and needed to think.

* * *

Finding a nice seat on a cliff over the sea, Luffy munched on some raw tiger he had caught and started thinking about what he should do. Despite what most people thought, Luffy was capable of thinking and planning ahead. He simply chose not to. It ruined the fun randomness of adventure, but for an adventure like this, he needed to plan a little bit.

The first thing he needed to do was get his body back to how it was and even better. Now that he had a second chance to save Ace, he needed to be sure that he would be strong enough to save him.

But even if he got as stronger than he was before he time traveled, would he even be able to save Ace. All the Marines at Marineford were super strong and there were thousands of them. Even Whitebeard hadn't been able to beat all of them by himself.

Maybe he could stop Ace from getting captured? No, he didn't know when or where Blackbeard caught him. Maybe he could just beat Blackbeard on Jaya before he caught Ace? No, Ace would never forgive him for that, Blackbeard was his fight to deal with. He could just break into Impel Down again, but then he'd have to go to Hancock's island again and get separated from his crew by Kuma again.

Speaking of his crew, Luffy wondered if they were doing the same thing as him right now. Hopefully, they knew they had to wait. If they changed too much stuff, Luffy wouldn't be able to find them again and that'd suck. Luffy couldn't leave early either. He made a promise.

Trusting his friends to do the right thing, Luffy turned back to the original problem. Really, getting Ace back wasn't the only problem. Even if he saved Ace at Marineford, his crew would still be destroyed at Wano by the Marines and Kaido. They weren't strong enough to hold off thousands of Marines and hundreds of pirates and samurai at the same time. The only reason they lived long enough to get to the cave was because of the Minks, Traffy, and those from the Grand Fleet that showed up.

Even back on Whole cake Island, he hadn't been able to beat big Mom's Army of Rage even with Nami by his side. Sure, he'd been tired from fighting Cracker and Sanji, but he still wasn't sure if he could've beaten all of them at full strength with just the two of them. And that was only a little bit of Big Mom's forces.

' _Fight fire with fire.'_ That was something Nami had said once that Luffy didn't really get until now. If the thousands of Marines were the fire then to fight them, he was going to need an even bigger fire than that.

"I need a bigger crew." Something similar to the Grand Fleet but not just a bunch of crews under him. He wanted them to join his crew. They could still call themselves whatever they wanted, but they would be Straw hat Pirates at the end of the ay. "It'll be like usual except with more people. And more people means more friends and fun and adventures."

Now that he was really thinking about it, Luffy was getting kinda pumped. Already, he could think of a bunch of people he could ask to join his crew. He didn't want his adventures to be the same as last time and bringing more people would definitely change things up.

"Shishishishi! I can't wait!" He cheered to the ocean. "This time, I _will_ become the King of the Pirates!"

* * *

For the next year, Luffy spent his days training non-stop. Dawn Island wasn't nearly as rough as Rusukaina, so he had to train twenty times as hard to make progress back to where he had been and beyond. He worked until he dropped and continued even while he slept. He ate so many of the animals in Mt. Corvo, he had to start going into the Goa Kingdom for food. Thus began to The Legend Of The Gluttonous Demon That Came From The Mountain.

Every few days, a man covered in bruises and blood wandered into the city carrying boulders on his back. He would enter restaurants and order mountains of food, and when the joyful servers asked for food, he would run. Soon, restaurants started getting wise to his game and refused to serve him. It never worked. When they denied him food, he would look at them with a piercing gaze and the servers wills crumbled, doing as the man commanded without argument.

The restaurant owners tried everything to stop him. Policemen were dealt with easily, left bloody and foaming at the mouth. Poison only slowed him down for a while until it stopped working entirely. Assassins found their bullets bouncing off him and their blades shattering against blackened skin. Bounty hunters and thugs ended up scared of him, many of them having ended up in the hospital trying to stop him. More than a few restaurants had to shut down for good.

All the attacks on him were good training for Luffy. His Observation Haki got a workout tracking all the police and assassins and thugs that came after him. After a while, he got a sense for reading people's thoughts and emotions but wasn't close to the level of someone like Katakuri He practiced different levels of Conqueror's Haki on people, using it to command them, intimidate them, or straight up beat them. He even learned how to focus it on select people. He only used Armament Haki on occasion.

By the end of the year, Luffy was in top shape. He remastered Gears 2nd and 3rd and had gotten better with Gear 4th, he came up with a few cool new techniques he had thought up, his Haki was better than ever, and his body was stronger at base level than before. It had been backbreaking work, but he did it. Now he had to go even farther. He was going to be the King of the Pirates. He couldn't settle for good enough. He had to be the very very strongest he could!

* * *

 **One Year Later**

"Well, he finally left, Chief," Makino said as she waved goodbye to the dinghy in the distance. All around her, the townsfolk of Foosha Village yelled their goodbyes. "We're gonna miss him."

Woop Slap, mayor of Foosha village, remained the only one unenthused about the departure, scoffing. "That boy's going to ruin the good reputation of this town with his 'pirate shenanigans.'" Makino only chuckled at the old man's grumpiness, seeing the glint of worry in his eyes.

Out on the tiny little sloop, Luffy stood on the prowl, looking over the calm seas of the East blue. Nothing like the Grand Line or the New World at all.

For this new adventure, Luffy had taken up a brand new attire. Still sporting a straw hat, sandals, and shorts, Luffy changed it up to include a red sash around his waist and an open, light red captain's coat with silver trim. He was going to be in charge of a massive fleet, so he wanted to look like a super cool admiral. He'd still be called Captain though. Being called Admiral would've made his skin crawl.

Beneath him, the calm waters of the sea began to rumble and from them came forth the Lord of the Coast, a serpent-like Sea King that had eaten Shanks' arm ten years ago. He roared at Luffy, remembering him from the day of his greatest shame. He would not be cowed by some human again! He was a Sea King damn it! So what if he was smaller and weaker than all the others? He was gonna eat this human and then he was gonna go show those uppity big Sea Kings what he was made of...or maybe not.

Luffy smiled at the Lord of the coast, tipping up his hat. "Shishi, I've been waiting to see you again. It's been ten years since that day...you saved me from that bandit but you ate Shanks' arm. So…. **Gomu-Gomu no Pistol**!" Luffy's arm stretched in a flash and smashed into the Lord's cheek, knocking him back into the water with more than a few broken teeth. After a few seconds, it rose back up with a defeated look and a few broken teeth. "Alright, now that I hit you, I want you to join my crew."

' _He wants me to what? Join his crew? Does he know who I am? I'm not some lowly human looking for companionship, I am the Lord of the Coast! The most powerful Sea King….near here.'_ His head drooped, ' _Who am I kidding? I'm nothing but a weakling preying on creatures weaker than me to inflate my own fragile ego, unwilling to confront my own inner doubts for fear that my father was right and I am a massive disappointment.'_

"Wow, that sounds like it sucks. Sorry about your dad."

' _Don't be. He didn't have any room to talk anyway. He always talked big, but he was just a coward. He had the strength to fight but chose to hide and stay out of trouble. I have drive, damn it! I want to become the strongest Sea King in the world! I want my name to be known from the deepest depths of the sea to the highest cloud in the sky! Mein, the Lord of the Coast and Terror of the Seas!'_

Luffy chuckled, "That sounds super cool. If you wanna do all that, then why don't you join my crew? If you come with me, you can have tons of fights and grow stronger and more well known!"

' _Would...would you really do that?'_ The Lord asked hesitantly. He had almost eaten the boy twice now. He hadn't expected him to be so kind.

"Sure! I wanna be King of the Pirates so I need a cool pet like that. Can't settle for anything less! Besides, I like helping my friends achieve their dreams. That's what being a pirate is all about after all. Having a dream and going after it no matter what anyone else says!"

Mein sniffed, wiping his tears with his tail. No one had ever believed talked to him in such a way. All the other Sea Kings made fun of him for his size and his parents abandoned him long ago. He'd never had a friend in the world, and now this human he had tried to eat twice was asking him to come with him and achieve his dream. Was this what friendship was like?

Lowering his head to touch Luffy with his snout, Mein spoke, ' _Alright! I'll come with you, straw hat boy. I'll join your crew and become the greatest Sea King in the world...and help you become this King of the Pirates.'_

Luffy patted the Sea King on his snout. He'd always wanted a sea monster as a pet. Nami said he wasn't allowed to keep Surume or Mohmoo, but now Nami wasn't here to stop him. Picking up a rope, Luffy held it up to Mein. "Now, first act as the first member of the Straw Hat Armada, pull the dinghy until you find a cruise ship or an ugly ship covered in pink hearts..please."

' _Aye sir!'_ Mein took to the task with gusto, taking the rope, which had been tied to the ship, in his mouth and racing off towards the horizon at max speed. Luffy had to hold onto the sides and his hat as they blazed across the seas. A smile split his face from ear to ear. Things were already off to a super start!

"YAHOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

 **Fy3Flyt3: And that is the second Chapter of Press Start to Continue. took a few redos to get it how I wanted it and I'm still not fully satisfied, but I never am with my writing. Now that we're past the intro, things should go faster and have a little less exposition. I know this story has similarities to New Game Plus so far, but trust me, they'll be few and far between going forward. How do you guys like the first member of the Straw Hat Armada? Going in the same theme as Surume (his name means dried squid, a food in Japan), the Lord of the Coast is named after fried noodles, Chow Mein. And yes, I know chow mein is Chinese.**

 **Anywho, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Next time we'll be seeing a few familiar faces and familiar places and start setting sail on a whole new adventure. if you have any comments or critques, be sure to leave a review. Until Next Time, Bye!**


	3. All Around Me Are Familiar Faces

**Chapter 2: All Around Me Are Familiar Faces**

* * *

Mike was a simple guy with simple goals and a simple job to reach them in the simplest way possible. All he wanted was to go on an adventure. However, Mike didn't want a dangerous adventure like being a pirate or a Marine. No, Mike wanted something easy and safe that let him see some of the world. That's why he chose to be a sailor on a cruise ship in the East Blue. Nothing too dangerous. Sure, he might see a few pirates but he wasn't expected to fight them. How could he when he was all the way up in the crow's nest? By the time he got down there, everything would've been settled anyway. Best to just stay up here and wait it out.

Today was another simple and safe day for Mike. Another day hanging out in the crow's nest, looking out over the calm seas of the East Blue without a single ounce trouble in sight. Down below, Terry and Larry were messing around by the railing, throwing a hook at some barrel that was floating around. Probably some old fruit or something from some old wreck. Nothing he should be concerned about, but it was funny to watch Larry suck at throwing.

Mike looked up to give the horizon a quick once-over. He looked around and went back to watching his friends. Then his mind caught up with his eyes and snapped back to the horizon. To the east, a long dark figure raced across the ocean, leaving a deep trough behind it. From what Mike could tell it was some kind of sea monster.

"Holy shit! M-m-monster! Monster!" Mike screamed. ' _Is that a...is it actually a Sea King? I thought those were myths!'_

Mike's yell caught Larry and Terry's attention. They saw the monster as well and flew into a panic, running off to inform the captain and other sailors.

'Why is it coming here? What is it after? Please, God, don't let this thing eat me!'

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

Mein tightened his grip on the rope, keeping it between his razor-sharp teeth so it didn't get cut. His whole body rocked from side to side as he cut across the ocean at high speeds, blood red eyes focusing in on the ship right ahead of him. _"Captain Luffy, is that the cruise ship that you wanted?"_ This was the third ship they had seen so far. gopefully, third times' would really be the charm

Luffy had been casually resting in the boat, finding a good position. He lifted his hat and looked at the ship. "Maybe. Let me see." He closed his eyes and extended his senses to the ship. His Observation Haki had improved greatly over the two years to the point that he was able to sense all the people in Foosha Village from the highest tower in the Upper City of the Goa Kingdom. He had broken in here a few times to scare the people that used to be Sabo's parents and his shitty replacement.

Luffy could sense every person on the ship. He could hear their voices and their 'voices' that differentiated them from one another. He filtered through dozens of regular people he didn't really care about until he found something familiar and zoomed in.

When he used Observation Haki on a person, Luffy was able to do a multitude of things. Predict their movements, read their emotions, sense their presence, and skim their thought. Only thoughts near the surface could be heard, nothing going too deep into someone's mind. As Luffy focused his Haki on the person of his choosing, he began to hear their thoughts.

 _'Dang it, where is that ship? I know Luffy was on that pirate ship when I robbed it, so he has to be here soon. Unless he went somewhere else. His sense of direction is just as bad as Zoro's. Luffy, you better show up or I'm gonna be pissed. I spent all this money on a cruise for nothing! Though, I did get to try out this cute dress'_

Luffy smiled. Complaining about him and Zoro's navigational skills and having to spend money. Yep, that was definitely the ship he was looking for, no doubt about it. "Mein, full steam ahead! That's the ship we want!'

 _"Aye-aye Captain!"_ Mein lowered his head into the water and took off even faster than before, his lower dorsal fin sending up a spray of water as he cut through the ocean. Luffy leaned over the edge of the prowl, bouncing with excitement as the ship grew. It had been two long years and he couldn't wait any longer.

* * *

The cruise ship, the _Cameron_ , was in a panic now. Sailor rushed about the deck, unsure of what to do. They weren't moving fast enough to outrun the beast and they didn't have anywhere near the firepower needed to kill it or even scare it off. All they could do was sit and wait for death or pray for some sort of miracle to come to them.

Captain Sparrow watched the monster with cold indifference behind his pipe. He ran his fingers through his silvery beard, mulling over the situation. Sparrow had been on the sea for many years and seen many things. Things most men could never even dream of. This monster was one of those things, one of the fabled Sea Kings that resided to the south in the Calm Belt. Sparrow had no idea why it had come so far north, but the sight made his pegleg itch.

When he was but a cabin boy for a fledgling pirate crew, Sparrow saw a Sea King for the first time. A massive beast many times larger than the one he saw now. With ease, it tore apart their ship and devoured the crew. As they were attacked, Sparrow swore that he would turn his back to piracy if the gods would simply let him live. The gods took his word, but a debt still had to be paid And thus, Sparrow kept his life but lost his leg. That was the day he turned his back to piracy and took up a more civil job, eventually becoming captain of this ship.

All this backstory was to say that Sparrow had faced a Sea King before. And he had no plans of doing it again.

"Abandon ship!" The old man yelled as he lept over the edge and began doing at perfect breaststroke away from the doomed vessel. He swam pretty fast for a one-legged old man. Suffice to say, that turned the sailors panic into pure pandemonium. A pandemonium that began to filter to their very wealthy patrons, now running about the inside of the ship, screaming and sobbing into their wads of Beri. Only one passenger remained calm.

Standing in the middle the ballroom, a woman with shoulder-length orange hair watched the panic with amusement. She had caught snippets of the situation. A sea serpent the size of the ship was coming towards them so of course everyone was losing their minds and running around like ants in a rainstorm.

 _'And now the thought of a sea monster doesn't even scare me. Damn it, now I'm becoming a monster like the rest of them._ ' Nami sighed and started walking towards the upper deck. Ripping off the beautiful sequined sea green dress, she strode up the stairs in her new outfit. She pulled her wavy orange locks back into a short ponytail with her bangs hanging over her eyes. Her dress came off to reveal the white shirt with the smiling blue cat on the chest with the word "Kitten" under it. She wore cut off jeans with a knapsack slung over her shoulder.

As she got onto the deck, she pushed through the screaming crowds of sailors and went to the railing, reaching into her knapsack to pull out a familiar blue three-section staff.

"Alright, you overgrown garden snake, get ready to taste lightning." She spun middle section of her rod, releasing balls filled with black clouds and lighting, slowly rising up into the sky. Sailors and passengers alike stopped on the deck to watch as Nami seemed to be performing some sort of magic trick. The clouds above began to turn dark and angry, rumbling with awaiting thunder. Nami clicked the sections back together and rose them over her head, ready to give the command when she got a closer look at the Sea King. More accurately, what the Sea King was pulling behind it.

"He did not," she whispered to herself, already knowing the answer. With a sigh, she folded up her Clima-Tact and shoved it back into her knapsack, letting the brewing storm peter out.

"I can't believe he made me waste my Weather Balls like that. I only have so many here, you idiot Captain." As much as she complained to herself, Nami couldn't stop the smile on her face.

The Sea King grew closer, scaring the sailors and passengers until it stopped completely. It raised its head and met Nami eye to eye, neither of them flinching from the sight of one another. From below, a hand latched onto the side of the ship and pulled up a smiling boy wearing a straw hat.

"Hey, Na-wha!" Luffy was tackled to the ground as Nami hugged him. It was a good thing he was made of rubber, otherwise, he would've had a few broken ribs.

"Luffy!" Nami squeezed her captain as tight as she could. She wasn't sure she ever wanted to let him go after two long years not really knowing what happened to him. The strange Enigma had said he sent them all back in time, but Nami took everyone's words with a grain of salt, godlike being or not. Thankfully, it seemed her suspicions had been unjustified.

Passengers and sailors alike were a bit confused. First, they were being attacked by a sea monster. Then, this lady stands on the railing and starts controlling the weather! After that, the sea monster stops and some dumb looking kid jumps onto the ship and start getting hugged by storm lady (the very attractive storm lady, a few jealous sailors noted).

Eventually, Nami let her captain go and smacked upside the head.

"What the hell is this?!" She pointed at Mein, who was watching curiously. "Why the hell are you riding around on a Sea King?!"

"His name's Mein and he's our new crewmate," Luffy said, rubbing the bruise that was forming on his cheek. Nami had to be using some kind of Haki or something. Maybe it was her own kind of 'Fist of Love' like what Grandpa used.

"No. No, you are not bringing a giant sea monster along with us! We can barely feed you, let alone a monster bigger than Sunny! He can't even get on the ship, not to mention…"

Luffy started fading out Nami's complaints. It wasn't like he was purposefully ignoring her, but when she started yelling at him, her words always seemed to just fade out. Same thing happened when his enemies started monologuing, and they always started monologuing. I'm a god blah blah blah you can't beat me blah blah blah I'm undefeated blah dee blah dee blah.

 _"Captain,"_ Mein whispered, " _I don't think she likes me very much."_

Luffy waved his hand dismissively, "Naw, she will. Nami just complains a lot about stuff but she'll come around. If you can find her some treasure or something underwater, she'll love you!"

 _"Oh, that's good. I wouldn't want one if my new crewmates to dislike me from the start. That'd be very disheartening. I'll try and look for some treasure later"_

"...Luffy? Who are you talking to?"

"Mein." Said Sea King smiled at Nami, waving his tail in greeting. Nami blinked for a few seconds. She raised a finger to ask a question when an explosion rocked the ship.

"Pirates off the port bow!" That warning was like a spark in powderkeg, restarting the panic and sending the non-Straw Hats running around like ants in a rainstorm. Luffy smiled as he saw the pink monstrosity sailing to them waving a Jolly Roger proudly.

The Alvida Pirates were closing in fast, coming in to board the little cruise ship. The pirates ran along the sides, firing guns and shouting like animals, successfully intimidating the regular civilians and leaving Luffy, Nami, and Mein unimpressed.

"Mein, hide back under the water," Luffy ordered. "We'll call you when we need you, okay?"

The serpent nodded and dove back into the water, sinking into the dark deep and awaiting his captain's orders. Nami's question sat on the tip of her tongue, but it could wait until they weren't about to be boarded. The two Straw Hats marched across the ship to face the oncoming pirates, pushing through the panicked crowds. Luffy hopped up onto the railing.

"Nami, I gotta go meet someone on the ship. You can deal with these guys, right?"

Nami twirled her Clima-Tact around her shoulders, sparks popping around it. "Yeah, I can deal with them. Do you want me to take over the ship so we can go get Zoro?" Luffy considered this for a moment before shaking his head. That thing was way too ugly. He didn't want to be on it longer than he had to be. In a burst of speed, Luffy disappeared.

The _Miss Love Duck_ pulled close to the cruise ship. Hooks were tossed across and pulled the ships together and planks were slapped down to to cross. Already, pirates sailed across the gap on ropes, landing on the deck waving around swords and guns. They grabbed sailors and passengers alike, holding them as hostages. Nami smirked. She may be a pirate herself now, but she still hated bastards like this.

"Hey boys!" The pirates turned to look at her, instantly lovestruck at the sight of an actually beautiful woman. " **Thunderbolt Tempo!** " The black clouds Nami released from her staff crackled with lightning and brought down heavenly fury on the pirates, leaving them thunderstruck as well.

Nami turned her attention to the _Miss Love Duck_ and all the soon-to-be even more shocked pirates. Behind the frightened crew stood a massive whale of a woman wielding a wide iron club. Nami smiled at them devilishly and a single passed through all the Alvida Pirates' minds.

 _'Witch!'_

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

Luffy smacked Coby upside the head, "Stop being so annoying!"

He had rushed over to the Miss Love Duck and made a beeline for the storage room, chowing down on all their food. The noise of Luffy's feast attracted Coby's attention and set in motion the nostalgic conversation.

Coby rubbed the lump on his head while Luffy tried to remember what he said last time. "Listen up, I don't care what anyone says. I will the Pirate King, dangerous or not. If I die, I die. At least I had fun doing it!"

Coby looked at Luffy in awe. Something about him, the aura he gave off, was so inspiring. It was like he was taking his own willful determination and pushing it into Coby. He felt like he could do anything if Luffy said he could. He had doubts about Luffy's dream, but Luffy believed in it so much, it just seemed like he could do it. It didn't make sense, but that;t how Coby felt. If that worked for Luffy then maybe...

"Luffy! Do you...do you think I could be a Marine? Not like a regular Marine, but a...an Admiral? I wanna be someone people can look to as a hero and take out nasty pirates like Alvida and her crew!"

Luffy smiled, putting a hand on Coby's head. "Of course you can if that's what you wanna do! Shishi! If you become a Vice-Admiral, we can be just like my Gramps and Roger."

"Gramps?" The roof exploded above, drowning out Coby's question. The dust and smoke cleared, revealing Alvida covered in electrical burns and cuts, lying in a pile of rubble with her iron club in hand.

"Ugh," she groaned, "I'll kill that damn witch! She'll rue the day she messed with the beautiful Alvida!" The rotund woman slowly picked herself up and dusted herself off, noticing Luffy and Coby standing to the side. "Coby! What the hell are you doing down here?! You're supposed to be over there pillaging, you useless brat!"

"I-I-I.." And like that, all of Coby's confidence faded away.

"Are you done trying to fight me now?" Nami stood over the hole Alvida made with storm clouds swirling around her. The Alvida Pirates cowered behind her, burned and beaten. "Just tell me where all your treasure is already. Oh, Luffy, there you are. Who's that?"

"This is Coby!" He smacked the poor body a bit too hard on the back. "He's gonna be a Marine."

"Is that so?" Alvida loomed over the two, gripping her signature club. "Are you planning on leaving my crew, Coby?"

"N-no! Of course not, Lady Alvida! I would never, Lady Alvida! I'm loyal to you, Lady Alvida!" Coby simpered and bowed to her. It was the only way he knew to survive but he never felt more embarrassed doing it than he did now. He was sure Luffy was disappointed.

"Well then tell me, who is the most beautiful woman in all the seas?"

"Anyone but you. But if I had to pick, I'd say Boa Hancock." At least, that's what everyone kept telling Luffy. He thought she was pretty, sure, but she was also kind of mean to the people that weren't him, even her own sisters and Raleigh. Still, she was pretty nice when she wanted to be and a pretty good cook. Her Sea King Casserole was to die for and she always brought him enough food. He still wasn't going to marry her if she asked him. Marriage meant getting tied down and Luffy didn't want anything like that until he was Pirate King.

While Luffy fantasized about Hancock—something her previous timeline's counterpart only dreamed of—Alvida took exception to his comment.

"Die!" Coby prepared to do just that as the massive mace came down. He closed his eyes and said his prayers as his brain were splattered against the floor. Or at least they should've been.

Coby opened his eyes and found himself on the upper deck of the Love Duck, sitting next to Luffy and the scary orange-haired lady.

"What? H-how did we…" _'I didn't even feel us move. It was like teleportation.'_ Once again, Coby was awestruck by Luffy. Alvida was strong, but Luffy was on a level he never even imagined. 'Is this why he's so confident?'

"Get back here, you bastard!" Despite her size, Alvida was surprisingly spry, leaping out of the hole and tearing through the deck with her mace, still missing her targets. "No one insults the beautiful Alvida!"

"Talk about delusional much?" Nami commented. Alvida swung a club at her, expecting to knock the skinny girl across the deck, only to feel the sting of electricity yet again from the black clouds swirling around her. "You're really going to try that again? C'mon, you're giving us lady pirates a bad name."

Alvida was beyond pissed. First, they ruined her raid. Then, this orange haired bimbo starts tossing around clouds and lightning like some witch and defeated those useless louts she called a crew. _Then_ , that little straw hat wearing twerp had to gall to insult her, and now, the witch had used that **Thundercoat** or whatever she called it to hurt her and destroy her favorite hat. Nothing was going the way Alvida wanted today. She needed a break. She needed…

"Coby! Who is the most beautiful woman in the world?! Say it!"

"It's-It's.." Coby had a choice. He could be a little coward and bend to Alvida's will like he always had and stay living in terror of her for the rest of his miserable life. Or, he could take a stand and move past his fear to forge a new path towards his dream. He chose the latter. "Anyone but you, you fat whale!"

The world turned red. Alvida charged at Coby like a bull, ready to tear him limb from limb by hand if need be. Coby was prepared to die right on that spot, but like a goddess, Nami stopped Alvida in a gust of wind, knocking her across the deck towards the prow.

"You're really starting to get on my nerves, so why don't you go for a little trip? I'll even fly you there for free." Nami twirled the Clima-Tact. The black clouds were sucked back into the bo like a vacuum. Alvida charged at Nami when Nami pulled off the end and pointed it at the woman's stomach. " **Cyclone Sword!** "

A tempest flew forth from the staff and blasted into Alvida, knocking her back through the railing of her ship and way across the ocean, spinning like a pinwheel until she disappeared into the horizon with a twinkle. Nami smiled at her handy work, letting the nausea of offering something for free pass over her.

"Well, that was easy."

* * *

 **One Hour Later**

' _What is today?'_ Coby wasn't sure where to begin with the weirdness he was experiencing, though the giant serpent-like Sea King pulling cruise ship the two pirates he ended up with was a good place to start.

Immediately after beating Alvida, the orange-haired lady-Nami was her name-had gone below deck and robbed the Alvida Pirates of every last valuable they had, carrying them in a giant sack she lugged around like a purse. Then she and Luffy moved all the sailors and passengers off the Cameron and onto the Love Duck before the Marines started showing up. How they knew what was happening was beyond him, but what happened after they showed up was crazier.

From the depths of the sea, a serpent Sea King rose up with menacing red eyes and glinting fangs, looking down on the ship it nearly outmatched in size. And Luffy started talking to it. And it understood him! With a few orders from Nami, Luffy quickly hooked the Sea King to the cruise ship and rolled up the sails. In no time, the Cameron was speeding away from the scene on a 1 Sea King power engine.

Now Coby was sitting on the deck of the ship in a daze while Nami and Luffy stood/sat by the wheel of the ship talking about stuff Coby couldn't begin to hope to understand.

"So how'd you get your Climatic thingy back? Didn't Usopp make that? And wasn't it like a dumb toy thing before?" Luffy remembered playing around with it after leaving Alabasta. He almost set the sails on fire with lightning and was forbidden from ever touching it again under threat of no dinner.

"That was my first Clima-Tact and he only made it like that cause he's an idiot. This one is like the one I had when we met back on Sabaody, the Sorcery one. Took forever to get all the stuff for it and send it to Usopp."

"Ooo!" Luffy flipped upside down on the railing, watching Mein tug the ship. "You went and saw Usopp? Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine alright. He's….I don't wanna ruin the surprise. He'll want to show off." Luffy laughed. He couldn't wait to see his best friend again.

"So, if you got your Climax back-"

"Clima-Tact."

"Yeah. Since you got that back, did you deal with Arlong?"

A devilish smile split her lips, "He won't be a problem this time around. As soon as I got my Clima-Tact back, I went home and ran them out and made sure they wouldn't think twice about coming back. I didn't hurt Hachi though, I just convinced him to go and make his takoyaki " Nami added on.

 _'Arlong? Isn't that a pirate? Yeah, I heard some of Alvida's crew talking about him. They said he was a Fishman. He must've been attacking 's home. Good thing she's so strong.'_ Even as he praised Nami, Coby felt weird. All his life, he had thought of pirates as the bad guys and the Marines as the good guys. That's how it always was in the news. But these two were nothing like those pirates. They protected the cruise ship, beat Alvida and her crew, and left them to be captured by the Marines. Yeah, they did steal the cruise ship, but that was beside the point.

"Oi, Coby, do you see the island yet?!" That was right, Coby was supposed to be acting as the lookout. For some reason, the pair were determined to get to Shells Town, talking about meeting a friend there. Even when Coby explained that was the location of a Marine Base run by a fearsome captain and was currently holding the dangerous bounty hunter, Roronoa Zoro, they still wanted to go.

Looking through the glass, Coby spotted a dot growing on the horizon, just barely making out the blue towers of the Marine base. "I see it!

"Good. Mein," the Sea King looked back at the navigator, "stop before you get too close to the shore. The dock we're landing at probably isn't big enough for you and the ship, so we'll ride in on a lifeboat." Mein nodded and slowed down to a stop.

The trio quickly lowered the lifeboat down into the water and headed for the island. Nami carried a light blue duffel back with onto the dinghy. As they passed him by, Luffy gave Mein a big thumbs up and a smile. Never before had Nami or Coby seen a giant sea monster look so happy.

"Alright, boys, hang on tight! This is gonna be a bumpy ride." Luffy wrapped an arm around Coby and held tight to the side of the boat with a smile on his face. Coby's teeth chattered nervously as Nami stood up and pointed her Clima-tact at the water. "Gust Sword!

Violent winds pushed the dingy forward at high speeds, cutting across the sea in a spray of white waves and winds. Luffy laughed and Nami smiled. Coby closed his eyes and screamed his lungs out. He was not as much a fan of this ride as the Straw Hats were and was relieved when they slowed down and docked at Shells Town.

"That's weird. This place is quiet." Nami looked around the bay/market area, searching for any sign of people, but there was nothing to be found. "Where the hell is everybody?"

Luffy closed his eye for a moment, doing the same as he did to find Nami. He heard dozens of voices all crowded into one area, surrounding a very powerful and very familiar aura. A smile crossed his face, starting to walk in the direction of the aura. Nami quirked her brow but followed without question. Coby followed out of curiosity, eyes occasionally flicking to the Marine base.

* * *

 **At the Hanafuda Bar**

The whole crowd, consisting of most of the population of Shells Town, whispered among themselves as they watched the green haired swordsman guzzle down his fifteen tankards of beer. Rika giggled and cheered with a plate of rice balls in hand while her mother started filling up another cup, looking nervously towards the Marine base.

The man in question wore a green haramaki wrapped around his waist, visible through his open green coat that bared his muscular chest to the world. Three swords sat next, leaning against the bar, the most notable being a pure white from the hilt to the sheath. The bar shook as Zoro slammed down the tankard to uproarious applause, wiping the excess from his face with a smile.

"Good job, Big Bro! That was number 15!" Rika came forward, offering the freshly made onigiri to the moss-haired swordsman. He happily took them and ate them. They were much better now that he could tell her salt was much better than sugar. Ririka slid another tankard too him much to his delight.

Zoro chewed on the salted salmon and started reaching for the beer when a spark ran down his spine. Focusing on teh powerful auras that suddenly appeared, he smirked, ' _Took you long enough.'_

Without a word, he picked up his swords and made his way out of the bar, the confused citizens making a path for him. Squinting into the sunlight, Zoro smiled as he saw them walking down the street.

"ZOOOOROOOOO!" Ah, sweet nostalgia. It had been two long years without hearing that sometimes annoying yell. It sounded like home right now, but it would certainly start bugging him again in a few hours. Such was the way of family.

"Took you long enough to get here, Captain. I was waiting for you for over a month. Had to go ahead and break myself out instead of waiting for you." He glanced at Nami, "See you got the witch first." He smirked as she started yelling at him. He had missed this.

 _'This makes no sense.'_ Coby watched the group interact and found himself swimming deeper into the sea of confusion he had wound himself up in. _'Why are two pirates friends with 'Pirate Hunter' Zoro? Why is he calling Luffy 'Captain?' Was he waiting here for them? How do they know each other? Should I just stop asking questions? Probably.'_ Coby shook his head, admitting defeat. He looked behind Zoro and saw all the people of Shells Town looking as confused as him.

"Did you say a month? Last time, you were only here for a week, right?" Zoro tensed as he came to the same revelation with Nami smirking to the side.

"I'm more amazed you even made it here at all. You've got the navigational skills of a broken compass."

"Big Bro!" Rika ran from the crowd over to Zoro. Her mother called after her, but Rika went anyway, latching onto Zoro's coat and peeking out at the not-so-scary looking pirates. "Are these guys your friends? I thought you hunted pirates."

"Nah," Zoro knelt down, scruffing the little girl's hair with surprising tenderness, "not these two. I'm part of their crew. I just hunt the pirates that piss me or when I need some money for food and booze."

Luffy waved at the girl, giving her a simple 'Yo'. Nami smiled and waved. Rika smiled back. These pirates weren't anything like the stories Marines would tell her when they visited her Mama's bar; they seemed really nice. The same thing for Big Bro too. Rika was starting to wonder if any of the Marines' stories were true.

All of a sudden, there was a loud clunking noise. All eyes turned to the Marine base as the iron gates opened up. Two dozen Marines armed with guns and swords marched out of the gates, eyes dark. Behind them marched Captain 'Axe-Hand' Morgan, holding the titular armed arm with menace in his eyes. The people screamed and rushed back to their homes. Ririka ran from the bar and scooped up her daughter, running back despite Rika's protest. Only the Straw Hats and Coby remained in the Marines' path.

 _'What? Why did they run away? They should be happy to see Marines. I mean, nobody's done anything, but still. What is going on in this town?"_

Zoro and Nami both readied their weapons. If the Marines were looking for a fight, they would get one, but they weren't gonna like it when they did. However, Luffy raised his hand, signaling them to stand down and let him take care of this. He looked forward with a smile. He'd been itching for a fight all day.

The Marines stopped a few yards away from the group, the first row getting down into firing position.

"Pirate Hunter!" Morgan bellowed, "You think that you can just leave imprisonment whenever you like? Wrong! I, Captain Morgan, decide when you leave and you will leave my custody in one way: a body bag. For your insolence, I sentence you to immediate death! For the rest of you, you dare to stand in my glorious presence without fear, so you will die as well. Men, fire!"

The Marines of the 152nd Branch closed their eyes and fired. They didn't want to do this but they had no other choice. Disobedience was a crime and an affront to Morgan's pride, meaning a quick and painful death for them. They had friends and family they wanted to see again. Gunshots cracked and echoed through the island followed by a strange stretching noise

Coby's jaw hit the floor with all the Marines copying him as the bullets slammed into Luffy's body and kept going, but instead of turning him into Swiss cheese, stretched out his body until they stopped and went flying back at the Marines, peppering them with their own bullets.

' _Damn it!'_ Morgan cursed, ' _He must have eaten one of those rare Devil Fruits!'_ The fact that Morgan thought Devil Fruits were rare truly showed how naive he was about the world he lived in and his place in it.

Luffy chuckled, "Now it's my turn!" He raised his fist, making the Marines flinch, and went into a flicking position. His arm bulged for a moment and steam rose from his hand. Nami and Zoro watched carefully. They'd never seen this move before. " **Gomu-Gomu no….Revolver!** "

For a moment, it seemed as if nothing had happened. That was when Morgan felt a massive pain in his chest and found himself flying backwards towards his office on the fifth story of the central Marine tower. He couldn't even scream before he was knocked out on impact, knocking down the two upper floors and bringing it all down on top of him.

Luffy blew the steam off his hand while the Marines looked on in a mix of horror, awe, and relief. On one hand, someone had beaten Captain Morgan and they could finally call him in. On the other hand, this guy was able to beat the Captain with a flick of his finger. What could he be planning to do to them?

"Alright, now let's go eat! I'm starving!"

"I could go for some more drinks."

"Sure, why not?"

"...Okay."

* * *

 **Back at the Hanafuda Bar**

Watching Luffy eat was a fascinating experience. Blackbeard may be the one with powers over darkness, but Luffy held the power of a true black hole in his stomach, sucking down plate after plate of food with no signs of stopping. If it weren't for the copious amount of cash Nami had pulled from her purse (read: breasts), Ririka would've kicked him out an hour ago. Now she was down to the last of her supplies and would need to close the bar for the day.

Zoro drank his booze and ate the rest of Rika's onigiri while Nami munched on a salad and some pasta. Coby picked at the steak he ordered. Rika had just finished telling him all about Morgan and his son and all the terrible things they had done. To say the least, he was extremely disappointed that a Marine Captain of all people would act like that and that no one could even stop him. ' _He's worse than a pirate._ ' At least now he would be arrested for his crimes, but Coby had lost a little faith in the Marines.

"Oi, Coby," Luffy said through a stuffed mouth, "Why the long face? You aren't a horse."

"It's nothing. Just thinking about Morgan and everything he put these people through. That's not how Marines are supposed to act. They're supposed to be noble and kind and helpful and be the hero that saves the day from bad guys." He looked at his friends, "You guys are supposed to be the bad guys, but…"

"But we don't act like it." Nami finished for him. "Trust me on this, Coby, not all Marines are good people. Some of them are as terrible and evil as they come. Not all of them, but more than there should be."

Coby sighed, dropping his fork. That's exactly what he was afraid of hearing. _'If this is what the Marines are really like, do I really want to join them? What if I become like them someday? What if I end up like those soldiers and have to help do terrible things? What if I-Ow!'_

A welt popped up from Luffy's punch. He swallowed all the food in his mouth and looked Coby dead in the eyes. "Oi, don't go giving up on your dream."

"But I was-"

"Yeah, you were, I could hear you thinking about it. You were gonna give up because of people like Morfan."

"Morgan."

"Yeah, you were gonna give up because of him, right?"

"...Yeah." Coby admitted and got another wallop for his trouble. "Hey, stop doing that!"

"Not until you grow a spine!" Luffy tore out a piece of Meat and swallowed it whole. "Just because someone else does something you don't think is right means you should give up. It means you should get stronger so you can stop it yourself. If I don't like the way somebody acts, then I go and knock them around until they stop!" And that basically summed up the events of every island Luffy had been to, "So don't go giving up, ya wimp."

There it was again. Those words. That smile. Both of them filled with Coby with this excited energy that made him feel like he could do anything. Everything made sense and the path became clear. Coby would become a Marine and rise through the ranks to Admiral, and when he was strong enough, he would make sure no one like Morgan happened again.

The light returned to his eyes and the hungry to his stomach, digging into the steak that had gone cold after sitting there for so long.

* * *

The Straw Hats now returned to the Cameron after going through the whole song and dance with Coby and the Marines. They had said their farewells and made off to start their adventure once again. Zoro' eyes turned to dinner plates as he looked at the massive Sea King tied to the prow. Luffy wasn't kidding when he said things were going to be different this time around.

Setting sail once more, this time aimed at the nearest island so they could pick up supplies, Luffy stood on the edge of the cruise ship, smiling at the horizon. The sun was dipping down below the sea, painting the sky with beautiful golds, purples, and blues. Taking in a deep breath of air, Luffy said to himself, "Just you wait, guys. I'm coming as fast as I can so we can be together again. There'll be more of us this time around, but that'll just make it better. Then we can all set sail again. JUST YOU WAIT!"

* * *

 **On a certain island in the East Blue**

 _'C'mon Luffy! I'm waiting right here for you, so hurry up and come!'_

* * *

 **On a certain sailing restaurant**

 _'You better hurry up, you shitty Captain. I'm a chef, not a waiter.'_

* * *

 **A certain Winter Island on the Grand Line**

 _'Is it time yet, Luffy? I can't wait to see you all again!'_

* * *

 **An unknown location on the Grand Line**

 _'It's been two years without all of you. I'm sure Luffy's coming as fast as he can. I'll be patient a little while longer._

* * *

 **A certain Super Clubhouse**

' _Ow! You better hurry it up, Luffy-bro! I'm getting SUUUUUUPER impatient waitin' on ya!_

* * *

 **A certain ship on the Grand Line**

' _Yohohohoho! Don't you worry about me, dear Captain. I waited a long time once, I can certainly do it again. Hopefully, I can reach up to 35 degrees by then! YOHOHOHO!_

* * *

 **Deep beneath the Red Line**

 _'Luffy-_ kun _. This time we will do it, I swear it on my life.'_

* * *

 **Fyr3Flyt3: Good Golly, this chapter was a monster to write. I wanted to include meeting Zoro and Nami in the same chapter, so this one is easily longer than both the previous chapters combined. Between that and school, this took me a while to get done. It's a bit lighter on character interaction with the Straw Hats than I would've hoped, but the next chapter will hopefully make up for all of that. Chapters will hopefully not take another month to come out but only who knows what the future holds. Katakuri does but he isn't here right now. Sorry to those who wanted Coby on the crew. it felt wrong to manipulate it into him not following his dream. The boy wanted to be a Marine, so gosh darn it, he'll be a Marine! And thumpin' good one at that!**

 **Anywho, that's it for this chapter, so if you have any comments or critiques be sure to leave a review. The next chapter will be "A Deal with the Devil and Other Horrible Mistakes." Until Next Time, Bye!**


End file.
